The Impact of Performance Management System on Employee performance

Transcription

1 The Impact of Performance Management System on Employee performance Analysis with WERS 2004 Abstract: The aim of this master thesis is to define performance management system, employee performance and employee performance measurement, and also analyze the relationship between performance management system with employee performance. The 2004 WERS data was analyzed in order to test the impact of performance management system on employee performance by using a package STATA for windows. The Kruskal-Wallis test and Ordered logit regression were used to test the relationship and the results show the activities: continuous communication within organization and personnel development impact significantly and positively on employee performance. However, the results show that the performance management system has a positive but insignificant relationship with employee performance. Zhang Ying ying Student Number: s /10/24

2 Acknowledgements Thanks to the Data Archieve for providing access to the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey and for allowing the survey to be available for analysis. In addition, thanks you to Dr. Anna Nehles, Prof.Dr. Jan Kees Looise and Dr. Stefan Zagelmeye for supervising this master thesis by providing advice and encouragement. 2

3 Contents 1. Introduction to this Thesis Introduction Problem Statement Literature review Performance management Performance management system The stages of Performance Management System Employee performance Employee performance measurement The relationship between Performance management system between employee performance Developing and Planning--Mission and individual objectives Managing and Reviewing performance Rewarding performance Model building Methodology Introduction of Dataset Statistic Tool Validity and Reliability Variables Independent variables Dependent variables Control variables The data analysis structure Factor analysis Descriptive statistics Kruskal-Wallis test Ordered logit regression Result Factor Analysis results Kruskal-Wallis test result Ordered Logit regression result Discussion and limitation Conclusion...46 Appendix Appendix

4 1. Introduction to this Thesis 1.1 Introduction This study focuses on analyzing and exploring the impact of performance management system on employee performance. According to Chan and Lynn (1991), the organizational performance criteria should include profitability, productivity, marketing effectiveness, customer satisfaction, but also employee morale. In this perspective, employee performance is tightly related to organizational performance, effective and efficient employee performance will positively influence organizational performance. On the other view, Millar (2007) built a framework of talent management which consists of planning, recruiting, performance, learning, career development, succession planning, compensation, and measuring and reporting. In order to organize a company effectively, companies must rethink how they hire, train and reward their employees; therefore the employees could be encouraged to be competitive. Undoubtedly, there is an important factor is human in organizations. One of the main management strategies of the organizations is to invest in employees. Organizations are seeking to develop, motivate and increase the performance of their employees in a variety of human resources applications (Gungor, 2011). Thus, performance management should be an important step in the organization's HRM system and influences employee performance and then to organizational performance. The reason why I chose this research topic is that nowadays there are many organizations that are relying on employees for success and competitiveness. According to the resource-based view, employees are the resources and assets of an organization. Consequently, organizations need to figure out strategies for identifying, encouraging, measuring, evaluating, improving and rewarding employees' performance at work. According to this respect, performance management and appraisal systems have come to play an indispensable role in helping organizations to reach their goals of productivity (Stevers & Joyce, 2000). In fact, human resource management practices could influence the behaviors of individual employees. The impact of Human Resources (HR) practices on employees' commitment and performance depends on employees' perception and evaluation of these practices (Guest, 1999). Performance management is a process for ensuring employees focus on their work in ways that contribute to achieving the organization's mission is indispensable for a business organization. Actually, performance management includes various types or system. Performance management system is a kind of performance management forms. Supervisors and managers are responsible for managing the performance of their employees. Each organization's policy should specify how the performance management system will be carried out. Organizations should adopt performance management practices that are consistent with the requirements of this policy and that best fit the nature of the work performed and the mission of the organization. Therefore, it is important that this research will be conducted, or existing research will 4

5 be expanded to understand employees' experiences and perceptions of performance management and appraisal system so that a completed and comprehensive performance system could be built up. Moreover, it is important for employees and managers to understand that performance management and performance management systems are the key determinants of an organization's long-term success or failure. If employees are not happy or do not agree with the performance management system, they are likely to be unwilling to take an active part in the process because they do not see any value of it. As a result, the organizational performance and productivity would decrease due to the inefficient employee performance. To conclude, this topic would be interesting and meaningful for any organization because the performances of employees have a significant relationship with organizational performance. Also, understanding how HRM practices influence employee performance could help organizations setting up a better management system, and finally improve employee performance and organizational performance. This master thesis is an academic research which tests how a performance management system influences employee performance. Firstly, I will do a literature review which is a theory conclusion of former researches about performance management system and performance management. The research method in this study is secondary data analysis method. I will use the relevant independent and dependent variables from WERS 2004 questionnaire to analyze the relationship between performance management system and employee performance. The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004) is the fifth in a series of surveys and is the latest of such surveys in the series that aims to provide a national representative of the state of employment relations and working life inside British workplaces. The main statistic tool is STATA which is a powerful tool for analyzing data. STATA can make statistics and data analysis fun because it does so much of the tedious work for user. Moreover, the main tests consist of Spearman's rho, chi-square test and Multivariate regressions. In this master study, I attempt to discuss some hypotheses which would be built after the literature review. These hypotheses are relevant to the impact of performance management system on employee performance. Therefore, I could better understand the relationship between performance management system and employee performance. 1.2 Problem Statement Performance management is important for an organization, as it helps organizations ensuring employees are working hard to contribute to achieving the organization's mission and objectives. Performance management sets expectations for employee performance and motivates employees to work hard in ways that is expected by the organization. Moreover, performance management system provides a completed and professional management process for organizations to assess the performance results of organizations and employees. Employee performance could be expected, assessed 5

6 and encouraged. Macky and Johnson (2000) pressed that the importance of performance management system is on continuously improving organizational performance, and this is achieved by improved individual employee performance. Therefore, improving employee performance by using performance management system is a way to improve organizational performance. So, in this master thesis, I investigate the relationship between performance management system and employee performance empirically. And how could the different stages in performance management system influence employee performance respectively? Research question: To what extent does the performance management system influence employee performance? Sub-questions: What is performance management? What is a performance management system? What is employee performance? How to measure employee performance? How does the performance management system influence employee performance? -how does setting objectives influence employee performance? -how do continuous communication, seeking feedback, coaching activities influence employee performance? -how do personnel development, evaluation, pay-for-performance influence employee performance? 2. Literature review In order to answer these questions, I need to do a literature review which a body of text that aims to review the critical points of current knowledge including substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions to a particular topic. Initially, in 2.1 I will introduce the definition about performance management, and 2.2 is the literature review about performance management system which made up of three stages: developing and planning performance, managing and reviewing performance and rewarding performance. Then, there will be an extensive literature review about employee performance and measurement, also the nature of relationship between each stage in performance management system and employee performance. 2.1 Performance management The study of performance management has been popular within human resource management study. I attempt to define performance, as deploying and managing the components of the causal model that lead to the timely attainment of stated objectives within constraints specific to the firm and to the situation (Lebas, 1995). At an organizational level of analysis I assume that an organization that is performing well is one that is successfully attaining its objectives; in other words, one that is effectively implementing an appropriate strategy (Otley, 1999). The AMO-model 6

7 (Appelbaum et al., 2003) claims performance which is a function of employees Ability, Motivation and Opportunity to participate. This means that an organization will benefit most if it organizes the work process in such a way that non-managerial employees have the opportunity (O) to contribute discretionary effort and it could be achieved by giving them autonomy in decision making, by providing in good communication and by employee membership in self-directed and/or off-line teams. For their effort to be effective, employees need to have the appropriate skills and knowledge (A). Hence, organizations can achieve this by attracting employees who already poses this knowledge, or by providing employees with formal and/or informal training. Finally, the organization needs to motivate these employees to put their abilities into the best effort for the organization (M). According to Otley (1999), a general performance management considers such problems: What are the key objectives that are central to the organization s overall future success, and how does it go about evaluating its achievement for each of these objectives? What strategies and plans has the organization adopted and what are the processes and activities that it has decided will be required for it to successfully implement these? How does it assess and measure the performance of these activities? What level of performance does the organization need to achieve in each of the areas defined in the above two questions) and how does it go about setting appropriate performance targets for them? What rewards will managers (and other employees) gain by achieving these performance targets (or, conversely, what penalties will they suffer by failing to achieve them)? What are the information flows (feedback and feed-forward loops) that are necessary to enable the organization to learn from its experience) and to adapt its current behavior in the light of that experience? (Otley, 1999:365,366) According to Fletcher (2001), who gave a completed and comprehensive HR related performance management definition which is an approach to creating a shared vision of the purpose and aims of the organization, helping each individual employee understand and recognize their part in contributing to them, and in so doing manage and enhance the performance of both the individual and the organization. Similarly, performance management is a management process for ensuring employees is focusing on their work efforts in ways that contribute to achieving the organization's mission. It consists of three phases: (a) setting expectations for employee performance, (b) maintaining a dialogue between supervisor and employee to keep performance on track, and (c) measuring actual performance relative to performance expectations. Armstrong (2004) defined performance management as a means of getting better results from the whole organization by understanding and managing within an agreed framework, performance of planned goals, standards and competence requirements. Performance management is a process of designing and executing motivational strategies, interventions and drivers with on objective to transform the raw potential of human resource into performance. All human beings possess potential within themselves in a few or more functional areas. However, utilization and conversion of 7

8 this potential into deliverable performances is often sub optimal due to a variety of reasons. Performance management acts as an agent in converting the potential into performance by removing the intermediate barriers as well as motivating the human resource". (Kandula, 2006:5). Comprehensively, Bacal (1999) defines performance management as an ongoing communication process, undertaken in partnership, between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor that involves establishing clear expectations and understanding about: the essential job functions of employee are expected to do; how the employee's job contributes to the goals of the organization; what doing the work well means in concrete terms; how employee and supervisor will work together to sustain, improve, or build on existing employee performance; how performance management will be measured, and identifying barriers to performance and removing them. The similarities of general performance management and HR related performance management are the goal setting, planning, evaluation, feedback and rewarding activities. However, the HR related performance management focus on the management of employee or managers, then motivating employees and managers. Moreover, general performance management was defined more widely than HR related performance management. It considers the definition of goals and the measurement of goal attainment) not just financially but also in terms of meeting all stakeholder aspirations. HR-performance management aims at developing potential capabilities of human resource. The performance management must be in line with the company's long-term policies (Kandula, 2006). Performance management involves managing employee efforts, based on measured performance outcomes. Therefore, determining what constitutes good performance and how the different aspects of high performance can be measured is critical to the design of an effective performance management process. And performance management effectiveness increases when there is ongoing feedback, behavior-based measures are used and preset goals and trained raters are employed (Lawler, 2003). 2.2 Performance management system In different literature, there are various models of performance management. Each model has its importance as a system for managing organizational performance, managing employee performance, and for integrating the management of organizational and employee performance. Performance management involves multiple levels of analysis, and is clearly linked to the topics studied in strategic HRM as well as performance appraisal. Different terms refer to performance management initiatives in organizations, for example, performance-based budgeting, pay-for-performance, planning, programming and budgeting, and management by objectives (Heinrich, 2002). A performance management system, according to Rudman (2003), is increasingly seen as a means of integrating HRM activities with the business objectives of the organization, where management and HR activities are 8

9 working together to influence individual and collective behavior to support the organization's strategy. Besides, he also stressed that the performance management system must fit with the organization's culture. Performance management system is a kind of completed and integrated cycle for performance management. The emphasis of performance management systems is on continuously improving organizational performance, and this is achieved through improved individual employee performance (Macky & Johnson, 2000). Similarly from the suggestion of Lawler (2003), the objectives often include motivating performance, helping individuals develop their skills, building a performance culture, determining who should be promoted, eliminating individuals who are poor performers, and helping implement business strategies. The main purpose of the performance management system is to ensure that: 1. The work performed by employees accomplishes the work of the company; 2. Employees have a clear understanding of the quality and quantity of work expected from them; 3. Employees receive ongoing information about how effectively they are performing relative to expectations; 4. Awards and salary increases based on employee performance are distributed accordingly; 5. Opportunities for employee development are identified; and 6. Employee performance that does not meet expectations is addressed Developing a performance management system is essential for an organization. Developing a performance management system, according to Schneier, Beatty and Baird (1987), is classified into a development, planning, managing, reviewing and rewarding phase. In 2000, Macky and Johnson suggested that a typical performance management system would include: the organization communicates its mission/strategies to its employees; the setting of individual performance targets to meet the employees' individual team and ultimately the organization's mission/strategies; the regular appraisal of these individuals against the agreed set targets; use of the results for identification of development and/or for administrative decisions; and the continual review of the performance management system to ensure it continues to contribute to the organizational performance, ideally through consultation with employees. Fletcher (1996) suggested that the main building blocks of a performance management system approach include: development of the organization's mission and objectives; enhancing communication within the organization so that employees are not only aware of the objectives and the business plan, but can contribute to their formulation; clarifying individual responsibilities and accountabilities; defining and measuring individual performance; implementing appropriate reward strategies, and developing staff to improve performance, and their career progression further in the future. 9

10 2.2.1 The stages of Performance Management System According to Schneier, Beatty and Baird (1987), a performance management system is classified into a development, planning, managing, reviewing and rewarding phase. Figure 2.1 below shows the contents of three phases according Schneier, Beatty and Baird (1987). Figure2.1: Performance Management System Phase1 Phase2 Phase3 Developing & Planning performance - outlining development plans - setting objectives - getting commitment Managing & Reviewing performance - Assess against objectives - Feedback - Coaching - Document reviews Rewarding Performance - Personal Development - Link to pay - Results performance Source: Drawn according to interpretation-original source: Schneier, Beatty and Baird, (1987:98) From above figure and according to Schneier, Beatty and Baird (1987), the performance management system consists of three phases: developing and planning performance is the Phase 1 which includes outlining development plans, setting objectives and getting commitment activities; managing and reviewing performance is the Phase 2 which includes assessing against objectives, seeking feedback, coaching and document reviews activities; rewarding performance is the last phase which has personal development, results of performance and link to pay activities. In the last chapter, I introduced the performance management system definition from Fletcher. He mentioned that a performance management system approach should include developing organization s mission and objectives, enhancing communication within organization, clarifying individual responsibilities and accountabilities, then defining and measuring individual performance and rewarding performance, and finally improving staff performance and developing career progression in the future. There is an apparent difference of definition between Schineier and Fletcher, it is the communication. Fletcher pointed that enhancing communication within the organization so that employees are aware of the objectives and the business plan, and employees can continue communication in the production process for exchanging information, discussing problems and seeking feedbacks. Thus, I would combine the definition of performance management system from Macky, Johnson, Fletcher and Schneier. Clear and detailed employee performance objectives play a crucial role in helping companies to perform in accordance with their business plan and achieve their 10

11 strategic goals. Then, the managing performance activities like seeking feedback and coaching, also evaluation and rewarding are included in the theories of both authors. In addition to this, according to Fletcher (1996), I would analysis the continuous communication activity in the managing performance phase as well. The reason why I concluded communication activity in the performance system is that communication between managers and employees and communication within employees could make employees understand the objectives and make managers supervise the progress of daily work. Next, the details and contents in each phase would be introduced and discussed adequately. Phase1: Developing and planning performance Planning is the first stage in the performance management system process cycle and offers the foundation for an effective process. Planning is a continuous process in performance management and should be executed with great care (Schneier et al., 1987). Planning helps to encourage commitment and understanding by linking the employees' work with the organization's goals and objectives (Schneier et al., 1987). It usually includes identifying key value drivers of stakeholders, for example, shareholders, customers and employees of the organization. Similarly, according to Armstrong and Baron (2004), objectives or goals describe something to be accomplished by individuals, departments and organizations over a period of time. They can be expressed as targets to be met, for instance, sales, and tasks to be completed before the deadline. Armstrong and Baron (2004) further state that objectives need to be defined and agreed on. The objectives relate to the overall purpose of the job and define performance areas--all the aspects of the job that contribute to achieving its overall purpose. Targets then are set for each performance area. Rogers and Hunter (1991) stated that goal setting is the fundamental aspect for an organization. They further indicated that productivity gains will correlate with the extent of top management support for and employees' participation in the process of setting objectives. It is a motivational process which also gives the individual the feeling of being involved and creates a sense of ownership for employees. At the same time, part of the planning phase includes the agreement on a formal development plan for the employees. Actually this plan should be based on requisite skills, behaviors and knowledge and key competencies that will be required to achieve the objectives and targets set. The development plan can also include long-term development initiatives which are usually based on potential and good performance (Nyembezi, 2009). In this planning phase, the supervisors and subordinates are involved in a joint participative process and set organizational goals, as well as specific goals for an individual. Objectives, on the other hand, also create the environment in which an individual will be measured according to his or her own performance and output, with set standards for evaluation (Nyembezi, 2009). 11

12 Phase 2: Managing and Reviewing performance Managing performance is the second element of the performance management system cycle. This step distinguishes performance management as a process from performance appraisal as an activity (Schneier et al., 1987). According to Schneier et al. (1987), every employee is responsible for managing his or her own work performance. This involves: (1) maintaining a positive approach to work, (2) updating and revising initial objectives, performance standards and job competency areas as conditions change, (3) requesting feedback from a supervisor, (4) providing feedback to supervisor, (5) suggesting career development experiences, and (6) employees and supervisors working together, managing the performance management process. According to the view of Fletcher, in the second stage, enhancing communication within an organization is important for employees to be aware of objectives and contribute to the future development. Amrstrong and Baron (2004) pointed that at its best, performance management is a tool to ensure that managers manage effectively. Therefore, performance management system should ensure the manager of employees or teams know and understand what is expected of them, and have the skills and ability to deliver on these expectations and be supported by the organization to develop the capacity to meet these expectation are given feedback on their performance; and have the opportunity to discuss and contribute to individual and team aims and objectives. Moreover, according to Armstrong and Baron (2004), performance management system is also about ensuring that managers themselves are aware of the impact of their own behavior on the people they manage, and are encouraged to identify and exhibit positive behaviors. The actual performance is compared to the desired performance, so the outcome is evaluated and a development plan is set according to the weakness with reference the strategy. This outcome also provides a feedback mechanism to employees. In order to improve the feedback and update and discuss initial objectives, the organization should also focus on communication within employees and between employees and managers. It is important for managers to develop a fully integrated strategy which enables the different forms of communication to contribute to the success of the firm's mission or common goal (Marion, 1998). Moreover, continuous communication or exchanging information between an organization's strategic managers and its internal stakeholders should be designed to promote commitment to the organization and aware of its changing environment and understanding of its evolving aims (Welch&Jackson, 2007). In the second phase, it includes the performance reviews which can be regarded as learning events. Individuals could be encouraged to think about how and in which ways they want to develop. Research by Ashford and Cummings (1983) demonstrates that feedback has strong positive effects on the performance of both individuals and groups, specifically through role clarification, improved self-efficacy, the establishment of behavior reward contingencies and increased self-regulatory control processes (Ashford & Cummings, 1983). Similarly, according to Armstrong and 12

13 Baron (2004), the actual performance could also be compared to the desired performance, therefore the outcome is evaluated and a development plan is set based on the weakness. This comparative approach also provides a feedback mechanism to employees. Figure 2.2 shows the structure of performance comparing according to the view of Ashford and Cummings (1983). Figure 2.2: Performance Comparing Desired Performance Feedback mechanism Actual Performance Measurement Development - Vision - Mission - Strategy - Value Drivers Source: Ashford, S.J. and Cummings, L.L. (1983), Feedback as an individual resource: personnel strategies of creating information, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 32, pp Additionally, in this phase, coaching and training is an important tool in learning and development. Coaching is developing a person's skills and knowledge so that employees' job performance improves, and helps them to achieve of organizational objectives. Managers should identify and implement training and other actions necessary to improve individual performance (Bevan and Thompson, 1991). According to Armstrong (2004), performance management is a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organizations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors. Similarly, Black, SE & Lynch, LM (1996) suggest that the training courses that are offered by organizations must be designed through considering the present and future needs of the employees and facilitate the learning of these skills. A good training or coaching course should improve the quantity and quality of organizations output; increase the chance of organizational success; decrease the organizational costs and expenses. Moreover, coaching is increasingly being recognized as a significant responsibility of managers, and can play an important role in an employee's working life. In 2006, Cunneen stressed that coaching comes naturally, and could take place during the review meetings or should be carried out throughout the year. Also, in this phase, training may be needed to improve their skills. Phase 3: Rewarding Performance According to Schneier, Beatty and Baird (1987), the rewarding performance phase includes three activities: personnel development, linking to pay and identifying the 13

14 results or performance. In Rahdert's (1960) view, the function of personnel development is that the growth of people can be accelerated over and above that which would take place naturally and normally, and then maximum the employees' contribution to personal and group goals. Personnel development has some development principles. First one is personal involvement. All personnel development is basically self-development. Opportunity for development is valuable only if the individual capitalizes on it himself. In fact, the organization can and should offer encouragement and help, but development activities seem to be successful only to the degree that individuals become personally involved in them. Second one mutual objective. The premise of any development activity in organization, there should be a clear understanding and acceptance of mutual objectives by both the individual and organization. If the objectives are understood and accepted, the efforts expended will be far more likely to succeed. The company should offer universal opportunity to every employee instead of single out a few of its people and make opportunities available only to them. In fact, it is difficult to make long-term predictions concerning the ambition, drive, and growth potential of individuals. The forth principle is individual planning. Development is individual and should be tailored to fit the individual and the situation; attempts to squeeze everyone into the same model may even prove a waste of effort. Moreover, development should be designed to improve performance on the current job firstly, and then prepare the employee for promotion. Employees who get promoted are those who are currently doing outstanding work and thus have been able to demonstrate their capacity to assume greater responsibilities. Next principle is continuity. If a man who abandoned his efforts to keep updating skills or information, he will become antiquated. Especially for nowadays, the new knowledge and skills are constantly being introduced. Rahdert (1960) also points out that the benefit of personnel development. For employees, if the individual skills or knowledge increase, he may create more value and as a result he may receive a sense of satisfaction in the achievement of personal goals and attainment of professional recognition. On the other hand, for organization, personnel development is able to achieve competitive advantages because of a better qualified and a more highly motivated team, and is able to utilize advanced technology because of the effectively trained employees. Furthermore, training activities should ideally be based on performance gaps that are identified during the performance review phase (Teke, 2002). By linking training to identified performance gaps, training will be focused, specific and relevant. Teke (2002) also points out that relevant training and development interventions and regular performance feedback are important factors in skills retention. Therefore, the training, development strategy and the performance management system process should be aligned tightly with the overall retention strategy of the organization. Development programmes are reflecting the needs of succession plans and seeking to foster leadership skills. In addition, there is a growing interest in pay-for-performance plans focused on small groups or teams. Small group pay plans provide monetary rewards based on the measured performance of the group or team. 14

15 Evaluation and checking feedback are both important activities in this period. In most organizations, they will not have only one corporate scorecard for the company as a whole, but will also have separate scorecards for each division/employee that feeds into the overall scorecard (Huang & Hu, 2007). See Figure2.3, the first process is translating the vision which helps managers build a consensus around the organization s vision and strategy. For employee to act on the words in vision and strategy statements, those statements must be expressed as an integrated set of objectives and measures, agreed upon by all senior executives, that describe the long-term drivers of success. From financial perspective, organization should form some kind of profit measure for organization and employee performance. Financial performance measures might include shareholder value such as economic value added, profitability and growth such as sales volume growth and cost reduction, and liquidity and solvency such as inventory turnover and ratio of debt to assets. Then, organizations and employees also need to fulfill customers' commands and needs. The customer perspective measures include client satisfaction, client profitability or time, price and quality (Kaplan&Norton, 1996). The measures needed in the internal business processes perspective can be summarized in the company's value chain. For instance, the organization could create new products and services to penetrate new markets and customer segments, also to achieve operational excellence through improving internal process and asset utilization (Kaplan&Norton, 2000). The last perspective is learning and growth, managers will define the employee capabilities and skills, technology, and corporate climate needed to support a strategy. According to Kaplan and Norton (1996), organization should pay attention to assess the effectiveness of their research and development process. Then, employee retention, workforce productivity, the number of suggestions made by employees and the number of suggestions implemented could be treated as the performance measures. Figure 2.3: A Balanced Scorecard to evaluate performance Financial Perspective Funding and the financial health Customer Perspective Service delivery and relationship with clients Vision & Strategy Internal Business Processes Perspective In place value adding business processes Learning and Growth Sustainable ability to change and improve Source: Huang, C.D. & Hu, Q Achieving IT-business strategic alignment via enterprisewide implementation of balanced scorecards. Information Systems Management, 24:

16 In this phase, pay-for-performance could be used together as a tool to assess the performance. Moreover, in the organization, employees are most likely to perceive that pay differences are made fairly when they are provided with information regarding the appraisal process and employees are allowed to discuss the appraisal results. According to the view of Locke (2004), the pay-for-performance principle involves providing monetary rewards through carefully designed compensation system that base pay on measured performance within the control participants. According to Delery and Doty (1996:802), employee performance appraisal is defined as 'the process of identifying, evaluating and developing the work performance of the employee in the organization, so that organizational goals and objectives are effectively achieved while, at the same time, benefiting employees in terms of recognition, receiving feedback, and offering career guidance'. Appraisals can be based on results or behavior. Behavior-based appraisals focus on the behaviors of individuals necessary to perform the job effectively, whereas results-oriented appraisals focus merely on the consequences of those behaviors (Delery&Doty, 1996). Therefore, procedural justice concerns are central to ensuring that employees perceive the process of performance appraisals, and the linkage of appraisal to pay, to be fair (Greenberg, 1996). In most situations, properly designed pay-for-performance systems will lead to better performance results. Pay-for-performance systems make major contributions to performance through two main mechanisms. First, they positively influence the motivation to perform. Second, they impact the attraction and retention patterns of organizations, thereby affecting the ability of individuals available to perform. Pay-for-performance systems can deliver monetary rewards at the individual, small group, and/or divisional or organizational level. All of this impact of different levels can positively impact performance Employee performance In the organizational context, performance is usually defined as the extent to which an organizational member contributes to achieving the goals of the organization. Employees are a primary source of competitive advantage in service-oriented organizations (Luthans and Stajkovic, 1999; Pfeffer, 1994). In addition, a commitment performance approach views employees as resources or assets, and values their voice. Employee performance plays an important role for organizational performance. Employee performance is originally what an employee does or does not do. Performance of employees could include: quantity of output, quality of output, timeliness of output, presence at work, cooperativeness(güngör, 2011). Macky and Johnson pointed that improved individual employee performance could improve organizational performance as well. From Deadrick and Gardner's (1997) points, employee performance could be defined as the record of outcomes achieved, for each job function, during a specified period of time. If viewed in this way, performance is represented as a distribution of outcomes achieved, and performance could be measured by using a variety of parameters which describe an employee's paten of performance over time. On the other hand, Darden and Babin (1994) said employee's performance is a rating system used in many corporations to decide the abilities and 16

17 output of an employee. Good employee performance has been linked with increased consumer perception of service quality, while poor employee performance has been linked with increased customer complaints and brand switching. To conclude, employee performance could be simply understood as the related activities expected of a worker and how well those activities were executed. Then, many business personnel directors assess the employee performance of each staff member on an annual or quarterly basis in order to help employees identify suggested areas for improvement Employee performance measurement The concepts of performance are studied through evaluation of overall performance and the management of the performance and the evaluation of performance is the process classifying certain outcomes within a definite timeframe (Coens & Jenkins, 2002). Moreover, the axiom, 'If you can't measure it, you can't manage it,' underpins the rationale for organization having a completed and comprehensive performance measurement system such as the Balanced Scorecard or total quality performance management. This approach connects measures throughout an organization to translate high level objectives into lower level activities. Then, measures are imposed on individual employees to monitor their performance of these activities (Platts&Sobotka, 2010). Performance criteria need to be unambiguous, clearly explained, relevant to the work tasks undertaken by employees and achievable. The criteria should not include factors beyond the control of the individual employee. Supervisors also need to be trained to provide regular, meaningful and constructive feedback. Employees should also be provided with appropriate training and development opportunities to overcome weaknesses in performance identified through the appraisal process. The assessment of individual employee performance also needs to focus on evaluating employee behavior and work performance and not the personality of the employee (O' Donnell & O' Brien, 1999). According to Huselid (1995), employees within firms contribute for organizational performance and HRM practices can affect individual employee performance through their influence over employees skills and motivation and through organizational structures that allow employees to improve how their jobs are performed. Also, he used labor turnover, productivity as employee performance measurement when he test the influence of HRM practices on employee performance. Labor turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and losses employees. Arnold and Feldman (1982) concluded that perceptions of job security, the presence of a union, compensation level, job satisfaction, organizational tenure, demographic variables such as age, gender, education, and number of dependents, organizational commitment, whether a job meets an individual s expectations, and the expressed intention to search for another job were all predictive of employee s leaving, and Sheridan (1992) also concluded that perceptions of organizational culture influenced turnover. Job dissatisfaction could cause employees to leave once they have reached decisions on the desirability of movement and the perceived ease of movement (March and Simon, 17

18 1958). Prior to leaving the organization, individuals experiencing job dissatisfaction explore job alternatives and evaluate these in terms of their expected utility (Mobley, 1977). The traditional approach therefore views voluntary separation as a consequence of low job satisfaction combined with alternative labor market opportunities that are subjectively perceived as having higher utility and relative ease of movement to alternative employment (Price, 1977). In order to avoid job dissatisfaction, employees need adequate remuneration, job security and comfortable working conditions (Jonathan, 2004). In Bhatti (2007) and Qureshi s (2007) perspectives, productivity is a performance measure encompassing both efficiency and effectiveness. Labor productivity means the output of workers per unit of time which is a commonly used and straightforward measure of productivity. The growth rate of labor productivity is approximately equal to the difference between the growth rate of output and the growth rate of the number of hours worked in the economy (Christopher Gust& Jaime Marquez, 2004). High performing, effective organizations have a culture that encourages employee involvement. Therefore, employees are more willing to get involved in decision-making, goal setting or problem solving activities, which subsequently result in higher employee performance. Moreover, labor productivity also could be impact by continuing information technology innovations which has the potential of changing the competitive game for many organizations (Mukhopadhyay, Javier Lerch& Mangal, 1994). If employee output is produced by two factors, labor and capital, then the growth of labor productivity depends upon the rate of capital deepening and the growth of multifactor productivity (Christopher Gust& Jaime Marquez, 2004). Capital deepening refers to a rise in the ratio of capital to labor, that is, an increase in the amount of capital which includes machines, structures, and infrastructure. For a given level of technology, capital deepening raises workers ability to produce more output with the same level of effort. Increases in multifactor productivity may reflect advances in technology, but they may also reflect any other developments that result in greater efficiency, such as reorganization of tasks in a firm or improvements in distribution channels used to deliver goods and services The relationship between Performance management system between employee performance Developing and Planning--Mission and individual objectives The first stage of performance management system is developing and planning. In this stage, business needs to set up mission and objectives, and then clarify the individual responsibility and duty. A mission is an organization's character, identity, and reason for existence. It can be divided into four inter-relating parts: purpose, strategy, behavior standards and values. Purpose addresses why an organization is in being; strategy considers the nature of the business; behavior standards are the norms and rules of ' the way we do things around here '; values are the beliefs and moral principles that lie behind the behavior standards, beliefs that have normally been formulated within the organization by a founding dynasty or a dominant management 18

19 team (Campbell and Yeung, 1991). In order to maximize performance, organizations focus on the efforts of the organization on explicit, challenging and realistic aims and objectives. A clear mission answer the question: what business should the company be in, and it should be the guide line for employees and managers behavior and performance. Campbell and Yeung (1991a) refer to as creating a sense of mission--that is, employee's personal commitment to the organization's mission. There are two simple views on the purpose of the mission statement: one is that it is primarily for external public relations and the other is that it is to motivate staff within the company (Klemm, Sanderson&Luffman, 1991). A simple explanation of motivation is the capability to change behavior. Motivation is also a drive that holds one to act because human behavior is directed toward some goal. Grant (2008) established a study where motivation enforced the employee outcomes such as persistence, productivity and performance. Besides, motivated employees are found to be more self-driven and more autonomy-oriented than those who are less motivated (e.g. Ryan and Deci, 2000; Thomas, 2002, as cited in Grant, 2008), which suggests that they will take more responsibility when offered developmental opportunities. On the other hand, motivated employees are also more engaged and involved with their jobs (e.g. Guay et al., 2000; Vansteenkiste et al., 2007); they may be more involved in the work of their colleagues, when compared with employees with low motivation. The organization still sets individual performance management targets which related both to operating-unit and wider organizational objectives (Bevan and Thompson, 1991). According to Costello (1994), performance management supports a company's or organization's overall business goals by linking the work of each individual employee or manager to the overall mission of the work unit. Individual targets or responsibilities could be the mechanism to enable the performance of individuals within the organization to be aligned with the mission statement and the way of adjusting performance requirements to meet new challenges which may arise. In the first stage, the most important thing of developing and planning performance is setting mission and objectives. Mission and objectives could motivate employees to act by the directions; therefore, motivated employees are more engaged and involved with their jobs. Moreover, motivated employees are found to be more self-driven and more autonomy-oriented. Therefore, I set up the first hypothesis: Hypothesis 1: Developing and Planning phase will lead to better employee performance. Hypothesis 1a: Having set objectives in organization will lead to better employee performance Managing and Reviewing performance In this second stage, there are lots of activities that include observing and document efforts and accomplishments; provide feedback, coach and counsel employee regarding performance. In this stage, enhancing communication within the organization, so that employees are not only aware of the objectives and the business 19

20 plan but can contribute to their formulation. Besides, employee communication could be discussed in the narrowly defined context of mediated communication, for instance, the impact of internal newsletters or specialized internal communication tactics. However, Cameron and McCollum (1993) found that employees tended to prefer direct interpersonal communication to mediated communication when they need more information on ongoing issues of their corporations. According to Robertson (2005), an effective communication climate is based on such topics: job, personal, operational and strategic issue. Moreover, Hargie &Tourish (2009) concluded top six topics were cited for 'information needed'--how problems that I report in my job are dealt with; how my job contributes to the organization; how decisions that affect my job are reached; things that go wrong in my organization; staff development opportunities, my performance in my job. According to Ainspan and Dell (2000), favorable employee communication has been shown to increase job satisfaction and employee performance and finally result in organizational success (Baskin, Aronoff, & Lattimore, 1996). On the other way, providing the quantitative and qualitative standards for judging individual and organizational performance are important elements in managing performance. As a result, individual employees would be aware of the standards which will encourage them and be the main objectives of them. Performance reviews can be regarded as learning events, in which individuals can be encouraged to think about how and in which ways they want to develop (Teke, 2002). Performance feedback has significant potential to benefit employees in terms of individual and team performance. Taylor, Fisher and Ilgen (1984) suggest that feedback is essential for organizational effectiveness and that a lack of feedback can lead to anxiety, inaccurate self-evaluations, and a diversion of effort toward feedback gathering activities. Moreover, effective performance feedback has the potential to enhance employee engagement, motivation, and job satisfaction (Aguinis, Gottfredson, Joo, 2011). Performance feedback is a critical component of all performance management systems. It can be defined as information about an employee's past behaviors with respect to established standards of employee behaviors and results. Effective performance feedback is timely, specific, behavioral in nature, and presented by a credible source. The goals of performance feedback are to improve individual and team performance, as well as employee engagement, motivation, and job satisfaction (Aguinis, 2009). Performance feedback is effective in changing employee work behavior and enhances employee job satisfaction and performance (Islam&Rasad, 2006). On the other hand, it is necessary to analysis and understands the feedback which is always ignored its complexities. Feedback may improve performance under some conditions. However, in other conditions, feedback may not impact performance or even prove detrimental to performance (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Locke & Latham, 1990). According to this perspective, it further indicates that a number of factors, including characteristics of the feedback source and message, and timing issues such as the amount and frequency of feedback employees received attitudinal outcomes of feedback. 20